I’m a Telepath, but It’s Tough Because the Cool Beautiful Girl Next to Me Is Having Pink Thoughts - Chapter 20

“R-Rain…!?”

The sudden downpour left me only able to think of the obvious.

I rushed for the nearest roof for shelter, but the rain came down even harder.

In just a few seconds, the sound of it was so loud it seemed to erase every other noise around us.

“Whoa… It’s really coming down.”

Through the pounding rain, I faintly heard Tatsuki’s voice.

“The weather forecast didn’t say anything about this… Did you bring a folding umbrella, Itsumi-san?”

“No, I unfortunately didn’t…”

I hadn’t even checked the forecast, and I never carried an umbrella regularly. This sudden rain had completely caught me off guard.

“What about Tatsuki-san?”

“I… I do have one, just in case.”

She shyly pulled a simple, all-black folding umbrella out of her bag.

The rain kept pouring, and water splashed up from the ground, soaking the cuffs of my pants.

“What will Itsumi-san do? I don’t think it’s stopping anytime soon…”

“Hmm… for now, I’ll wait until it slows down. Then I’ll probably dash home… Tatsuki-san’s going home now, right?”

Getting soaked wasn’t out of the question, but catching a cold and missing a test would be worse.

I decided to wait out the rain at school and head home once it calmed a bit.

“I… see.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow then.”

Tatsuki lowered her gaze slightly, hesitating for a moment. But then, she carefully opened her umbrella and stepped out into the heavy rain.

“Um.”

She stopped in the middle of the downpour with her umbrella shielding her from the water.

She slowly turned toward me as her expression was serious, like she had made up her mind—

“Th-then… let’s… go together under my umbrella…”

“…Eh?”

Her voice was drowned out by the rain.

But somehow, I heard it in my mind as if it were a telepathic message.

So my surprised reply wasn’t to the sound, but to what she had just said.

“Then… let’s go together under my umbrella… and head home.”

Her voice was soft by nature, as it seemed to reach its fullest volume this time, and I could actually hear it.

Caught off guard by her words, my reaction was a beat too slow.

“N-No… that would make Tatsuki-san get wet… If you have an umbrella, maybe you should just go home alone…”

I stammered while trying to stop her, and she looked a little annoyed.

“I-I don’t mind getting a little wet… It’s fine… really.”

“But—”

“Th-then!”

Before I could argue further, Tatsuki grabbed my right hand and pulled me under her umbrella.

Clumsy as I am, even her gentle force made me lose my balance, and we ended up pressed close enough that our shoulders touched.

“Ah…!?”

I froze, but she ignored my flustered reaction and kept talking, almost spilling her words.

“I-I want to do this… I couldn’t leave you to catch a cold… and also, it’s a way of repaying you for everything you’ve done for me…”

She started speaking with a tone that left no room for refusal, but gradually her confident mask began to slip, and her voice grew quieter at the end.

…Who could say no after seeing her like that?

“Alright… then… thank you”

For a brief moment, her eyes widened, then quickly returned to their usual calm. “Of course,” she said, welcoming me under her umbrella.

“I shouldn’t… feel this way,” I thought, but there was nothing I could do.

Her black umbrella now sheltered both of us, covering our heads as we stood close together in the rain.

—

The rain had started to ease a little.

The droplets falling on our heads were gradually losing their force.

…Though compared to earlier, that was the case. Big drops still splashed against the umbrella, and there was no sign of the rain stopping anytime soon.

“──”

Yet, even trapped under this noisy downpour, I felt as if the world around us had fallen into complete silence.

Her presence was all I could focus on, and the voice in my mind. Nothing else seemed to exist.

“Ah… sharing an umbrella… we’re really close… And Itsumi-san is a guy… H-huh!?”

Tatsuki’s thoughts spilled out like a fluttering with ticklish energy.

Her eyes darted around faster than a swimmer in a race, and I could feel her nervousness and excitement clearly, even without seeing her face.

“Up close, Itsumi-san really is a guy… slim, but solid and strong.”

“If he touched me—”

Of course, hearing all of that nonstop made me feel a strange, ticklish sensation too. My mind and body were strangely controlled by the feeling as we walked.

My shoes splashed through puddles, sending out ripples and droplets. That was all I could notice, my gaze fixed on the ground.

“S-So… Itsumi-san, what time is your train tomorrow?”

…But Tatsuki herself broke the tension a little with that simple question.

She spoke in her usual, calm tone, trying to sound normal.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

I keep my composure.

“T-then, w-would you like to take the same train tomorrow…?”

Her proposal was bold, in its own subtle way.

“I was thinking of leaving a bit early to wake up my brain.”

She gave me a glance full of nervous hope.

Honestly, it wasn’t an easy question to answer immediately.

Lots of people would probably try to get to school early.

Until now, it was fine because other students were already gone. But if someone saw me with Tatsuki, that would be the end of my peaceful life.

I was already on people’s radar; adding more fuel now would start a fire I couldn’t control.

“Ah, of course, if you don’t want to, that’s fine…”

“Maybe I got a little carried away…”

Her timid voice and thoughts spilled out like a bucket of cold water.

Seeing her make that kind of forlorn, almost abandoned expression made me feel guilty.

I had no choice but to give in and nod.

“Yeah… let’s do that.”

“─Alright! I’ll let you know the time later.”

“Yay!” A soft, modest joy echoed in my mind.

…Yeah, I guess it’s fine as long as she’s comfortable around me.

If I handle things well, I should be able to avoid any jealousy attacks.

If my actions can make her happy, then I don’t mind at all.

I told myself that to feel at ease.

Silence settled over us again.

And it stayed that way, all the way until we could see the lights of the station.